Today's guest blog is written by Jay Harris. Jay is a Home Depot sales associate and a regular contributor to Home Depot’s blog, where he provides advice on topics such as standard light bulbs and LED light bulbs, as well as other home-lighting themes.

Picking out a room’s colors can be quite an ordeal. Most of the time, you’re struggling against a common opponent—lighting. However, I’ve found that most people only concern themselves with being aware of the lighting in the paint store, and how that changes the color they see in front of them.

When you bring your color home, there is a pretty good chance it can vary from room to room as well, all due to different color temperatures in your bulbs. Now…why would they do such a thing? Aren’t all the light bulbs in my house supposed to be the same color?

With newer lighting technology come new advancements in color and a wider array of choices. CFL and LED bulbs are available in at least three different values: Soft White, Bright White, and Daylight. Each provides you with the light that you need, but offers it at varying “temperatures.”

Vibrant & Energetic

This is for all the bright and bold colorists; those who like to make a statement with their colors and have them jump right off the walls. Great rooms for this color scheme are bedrooms, game rooms, playrooms and dining rooms. Since we’ve got such bright colors to work with, you really want to accentuate them, and a Daylight bulb is best for making them pop. This type of bulb mimics natural sunlight and shows colors in their truest form.

Romantic & Deep Tones

Rich, deep colors can be difficult to work with on the walls, as red can be a fickle color to paint with. It works out though, because this romantic palette is mainly relegated to only a few rooms throughout the house, such as bedrooms and family/living rooms. Since the point is to set a “mood,” your lighting shouldn’t be distracting. Your room’s light should be complementary. I’ve found that Soft White style bulbs work best because they offer a warm and yellowish glow to a room, which helps give a very relaxing feel and mimics that candlelight glow to help build the ambiance.

Cozy & Subtle

A popular color theme in contemporary décor is subtle tones — colors that don’t need to be so bold to make you feel at home. They can give a cozy feeling while still remaining in the cool color palette, making it a great spot to bring out the blues, grays and greens. Since it’s a relatively tame selection, you can place it almost anywhere throughout the house; however, I mostly see this style pop up in living rooms, bedrooms and bathrooms. Since we’re talking cool colors here, a Bright White (or sometimes called cool white) bulb will be a prime choice. It gives off a crisp, white light and enhances those blues and greens, helping to give them an even cooler feel.

When planning your next home painting project, don’t take lighting for granted. Fortunately, a few simple bulb choices can make a world of difference toward creating the exact look and feel you’ve been imagining.